Smart Match Legal · Solicitor Recruitment and Mergers & Acquisitions

Your next role,
or your firm's next move.

Whether you're looking for your next role — salaried, or a fee-share arrangement for solicitors who want more than a straight salary — or looking to grow, merge or sell your firm, there's a straightforward path.

See Current Roles Mergers & Acquisitions

Looking to move as a solicitor? See candidate options →  ·  Can't take on a case? Refer it via Law Reach →  ·  Hiring, not looking? See options for law firms →

Recruitment
Looking for your next role?
A retained recruitment service for solicitors — traditional salaried roles, or fee-share arrangements for those who want more autonomy. See current roles →
M&A
Looking to grow, merge or sell?
A confidential introduction to a specialist consultant lawyer with 240 completed law firm sales and mergers over the past 10 years — whether you're buying, merging or selling.

Careers · Current Roles

Live fee-share opportunities.

Two firms are currently appointing consultant solicitors and partners through Smart Match Legal. Each firm's name is shared on a confidential first call, and there's no fee to you at any stage.

Corporate & commercial · London

Consultant Lawyer – Corporate & Commercial

London · Flexible working · Up to 85% fee share

A London-headquartered business law firm, with a European hub, is appointing senior consultant lawyers across its corporate, transactional and commercial practices.

What's on offer

  • A fee share that rises with your billings, from 70% to 85% on your own clients
  • Firm-generated work you can be allocated, plus a share of fees on matters you refer across the firm
  • Bonuses for high performers and a pathway to Partner from around £500k collected fees
  • Compliance, PII, billing, systems and admin support handled centrally

Who this suits

  • Partners, counsel, legal directors, senior associates with origination, and established consultants
  • A portable book or pipeline of £200k+ a year, ideally £250k–£300k+
  • Corporate & M&A, private equity, venture capital, banking & finance, funds, commercial & contract, commercial disputes or general counsel work
Apply for this role Or book a call →
Established · International

Consultant Partner – International Fee-Share Firm

UK & international · Remote · Keep 70–80% of billings

A well-established international fee-share law firm with 360+ partners across 25+ jurisdictions is appointing consultant partners in the UK and internationally, and is open to lawyers in countries where it doesn't yet have an office.

What's on offer

  • Keep 70–80% of your gross personal billings
  • Compliance infrastructure handled centrally, so you can focus on clients
  • Offices and hubs across the UK and internationally, with a network for cross-border referrals
  • Work your own hours, from wherever suits you

Who this suits

  • Lawyers with 7–10+ years' PQE, qualified in the UK or abroad
  • An established, portable client book
  • Partners and senior lawyers who want to keep more of what they bill, without running their own firm
Apply for this role Or book a call →

Not quite the right fit? Salaried roles and other fee-share firms are available too. Register your interest and we'll talk through what suits your practice.

For Candidates

Represented properly.

Smart Match Legal works exclusively for you as the candidate — whether you're looking for a traditional salaried role or a fee-share arrangement with more autonomy. One confidential point of contact, proper preparation before any introduction, and no fee to you at any stage.

Salaried or Fee-Share

Both options are on the table. We'll talk through what fits your practice and stage of career, not push you toward one model.

Confidential, Start to Finish

Your current firm is never approached or informed without your explicit consent, at any point in the process.

No Fee to Candidates

As with every service on this site, there's never a fee to you. Smart Match Legal is paid by the hiring firm.

How Fee-Share Actually Works — A Worked Example

You bill £200,000 in personal fees over a year
At a typical 70–80% retention rate, you keep £140,000–£160,000
The remainder covers the firm's compliance infrastructure, professional indemnity insurance, and admin support
Compare that to a salaried role, where pay is fixed regardless of what you bill

These figures are illustrative. The exact retention rate and structure are agreed directly between you and the specific firm — we'll talk through what a realistic number looks like for your practice before any introduction is made.

See Recruitment Options

Looking to grow, merge or sell your firm instead? See Mergers and Acquisitions ↓

Recruitment

Traditional roles. Properly matched.

Smart Match Legal runs a standard, retained recruitment service — for solicitors who want the security of a salaried position, and for firms who'd rather hire well than hire fast. Fee-share arrangements are also available for solicitors who'd prefer more autonomy over a straight salary; we can discuss whether that's the right fit for you.

For Solicitors

1

Traditional, Employed Roles

Salaried positions across a range of firms — for solicitors who want stability and a structured career path.

2

Fee-Share Options

Prefer more autonomy and a bigger share of what you bill? We also work with fee-share arrangements — terms are agreed directly between you and the hiring firm, and we'll talk through whether it suits your practice.

3

Confidential Process

Your current firm is never approached or informed without your explicit consent, at any point in the process.

4

No Fee to Candidates

As with every service on this site, there's never a fee to you. Smart Match Legal is paid by the hiring firm.

Register Your Interest

Prefer to send your CV directly? nick@smartmatchnetwork.com

For Law Firms

Legal-only, personally run from brief to placement. Retained search, on clear, fixed terms:

R

Retained Search

£5,000 payable upfront to commence the search, plus a 20% placement fee on start date. A committed, exclusive search for business-critical hires that need dedicated, priority attention.

F

Fee-Share Partner Sourcing

Building or growing a fee-share model instead? That's a different service — see Fee-Share Partner Sourcing below.

Discuss Retained Search

Confidential, no-obligation conversation — nick@smartmatchnetwork.com

Is This The Right Path For You? — For Solicitors

You want the security of a salary, or you're weighing that against a fee-share arrangement
You're currently employed and simply want a change of firm or environment
You value structure, a fixed income, and a defined career path over full autonomy
You're curious about fee-share but not sure it's the right fit yet

If any of these sound like you, get in touch — we'll talk through what fits, salaried or fee-share, and treat it as a genuine conversation either way.

Recruitment — Fee-Share Partner Sourcing

Building a fee-share model?

Sourcing entrepreneurial partners with a genuine portable book is a different skill from traditional recruitment — vetting for client following, not just CV fit. Confidential, and sourced directly from an established legal network.

Vetted for Portable Books

Candidates are assessed specifically for genuine, portable client relationships — not just years of PQE or a CV that reads well.

Sourced Directly

Drawn from an established legal network rather than a generic candidate database or job board response.

Confidential Outreach

Your model isn't shopped around publicly — approaches are made discreetly, one relevant conversation at a time.

Discuss Fee-Share Sourcing

Confidential, no-obligation conversation — nick@smartmatchnetwork.com

Looking for a traditional salaried hire instead? See retained search for law firms ↑

Refer — Law Reach

Pass it on. Properly.

Every solicitor turns away work from time to time. Law Reach is a low-friction referral scheme — refer the case, and earn a fee share on the resulting work, or donate it to charity instead. It's free to join, there's no obligation, and it's a lower-commitment first step than the full recruitment or fee-share conversation.

Reasons Solicitors Refer a Matter On

Outside your expertise
No capacity right now
Conflict of interest
Wrong jurisdiction for the client
Budget doesn't match the case — refer it, don't turn it away

The resulting fee-share arrangement is agreed directly between your firm and the receiving firm — Smart Match Legal is the introducer, not a party to that agreement.

Refer a Case

Prefer to talk it through first? Book a call →

Mergers and Acquisitions

Growing, merging, or planning ahead?

If you're a principal or partner looking to grow your firm — by acquiring another practice, or merging for scale — Smart Match Legal can put you in a confidential conversation with a specialist consultant lawyer who has advised on 240 law firm sales and mergers over the past 10 years. The same conversation covers the other side of the deal too: succession planning, retirement, or a sale when the time is right. We make the introduction and stay involved through the process, and you deal directly with an advisor with that track record, not a generalist.

240 Deals, 10 Years

A track record built specifically on law firm sales, mergers and succession over a decade — not general corporate mergers and acquisitions applied to legal practices.

Confidential From The Start

Early conversations stay discreet. Nothing is shopped around the market, and there's no obligation to proceed after an initial discussion.

Aligned On Outcome

A modest fee to get started, with the balance payable on completion — so the advisor's incentive is the same as yours: getting the deal done.

Growing By Acquisition

Many sellers want a quick, straightforward deal more than a high price — a retiring principal facing run-off costs, or a practice with no succession plan, often just wants it settled. We can introduce you to firms in exactly that position, for far less than building that growth organically.

Expand Faster

Add practice areas or expand into new locations faster than building them organically would allow.

Scale Against Rising Costs

Compliance, cyber security and PII costs keep climbing. A larger, combined firm spreads those costs in a way a small firm alone often cannot.

Attracting Junior Talent

A bigger firm with more breadth finds it easier to attract and keep junior lawyers than a standalone small practice competing with larger rivals.

Concentrated Client Base

Too much revenue tied to one client or sector. Merging spreads that risk, and a buyer will often pay for the chance to diversify it.

Partner Departure or Illness

A key partner departs, retires or falls ill with no immediate successor in place. A planned merger or sale protects the clients and the team.

Watch For Run-Off Insurance

Closing a firm outright means buying several years of professional indemnity cover with no fees coming in to pay for it. A sale or merger avoids that cost entirely.

None of these need a firm decision yet — an exploratory, confidential conversation costs you nothing.

Start a Confidential Conversation

Prefer to talk it through first? Book a call →

Your Point of Contact

Nick Starbuck — Smart Match Legal

Nick Starbuck is the founder of Smart Match Legal — specialist recruitment for entrepreneurial lawyers. Smart Match works with a small number of leading fee-share law firms to introduce the right lawyers at the right time. All introductions are handled exclusively through Smart Match Legal, ensuring candidates receive proper preparation, context, and advocacy before any formal approach is made.

Nick has a specialist background in franchise and consultancy recruitment — having previously recruited for a national business networking franchise and a specialist franchise recruitment consultancy, both network and franchise-based models. Whatever you're looking for — a fee-share arrangement, a salaried role, or advice on selling or merging your firm — that's a decision worth making with proper context, and Nick's role is to make sure you have it.

All conversations are handled with complete confidentiality. Nick's role is to introduce and facilitate — once that introduction is made, you'll be speaking directly with the hiring firm, not with Smart Match Legal. The resulting fee-share, consultancy, or employment agreement is made directly between you and that firm; Smart Match Legal is not a party to it. Our job is to ensure the right lawyers reach the right firms, and that those firms get the right information about each candidate, making the process smooth and well-positioned from both sides.

a leading international fee-share law firm

Fee-share law firm recruitment · UK & international

A national business networking franchise

Former franchise recruitment · National business networking franchise

A specialist franchise recruitment consultancy

Franchise recruitment specialist · Specialist sector recruitment

Smart Match Legal

Specialist professional recruitment network

Nick Starbuck

Founder · Smart Match Legal
Exclusive
Fee-share law firm recruitment partner — UK & international
Specialist
Consultancy & network-model recruitment
Confidential
All conversations handled with full discretion
No Fee
No fee to lawyers — Smart Match is paid by the hiring firm
Speak to Nick

nick@smartmatchnetwork.com

All applications handled exclusively through Smart Match Legal

Take The First Step

Your next role. Or your next deal.

Complete the form below for a confidential, no-obligation conversation with Nick Starbuck. Your current firm will never be contacted without your explicit consent. All details are held securely and used solely to progress your enquiry.

Prefer to talk first? Book a confidential call directly →

All information is treated with strict confidence · nick@smartmatchnetwork.com

✓

Thank you — we'll be in touch shortly.

Nick Starbuck will contact you within one working day to arrange a confidential conversation. In the meantime, if you have any questions please email nick@smartmatchnetwork.com directly.

Prefer to speak directly first? nick@smartmatchnetwork.com